1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle parking brake pedal positioning mechanism for locking a parking brake pedal in an actuated condition against pivotal movement toward a released position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Certain vehicle parking brake pedal positioning mechanisms include a parking brake pedal pivotally mounted on a frame for movement between an actuated condition and a released position. The brake pedal is connected by a suitable flexible cable or cables to the associated vehicle parking brakes to maintain an actuated brake condition when the pedal is moved to its actuated condition. The actuated pedal condition prevents vehicle movement during parking when the driver leaves the vehicle or during extended periods of standing while the driver remains in the vehicle. The pedal is usually detented in the actuated condition by a pawl and ratchet arrangement. A flexible cable is conventionally incorporated to selectively release the pawl and ratchet engagement and to thereby allow the pedal to return to its released position so that normal vehicle operation may then take place.
Parking brake pedals of the above described type move rapidly from the actuated condition to the released position due to tension of the associated brake cables in the actuated condition. The pedal rapidly impacts a suitable stop upon reaching the released position and thereby causes a relatively loud banging sound that can startle a vehicle passenger or driver while causing an impact loading of the stop and the pedal portion which engages the stop. Also, the pawl and ratchet locking of this type of parking brake pedal mechanism allows positioning of the brake pedal in only a limited number of positions. The brake pedal position which corresponds to a fully actuated parking brake condition without over stressing the brake cables may correspond to a parking pedal position intermediate two adjacent positions in which the pawl and ratchet are capable of positioning the pedal. Consequently, the parking brake pedals will be only partially actuated if the brake pedal is detented in one of these positions or the associated brake cables will be over stressed and elastically and/or plastically strained if the pedal is detented in the other position to fully actuate the parking brakes.
It should be understood that locking mechanisms of the infinite position type have heretofore been utilized with clamps for holding a workpiece to be machined. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,603,323.